Have you ever thought about why the college admission committee asks for an application essay from the candidates? They do get all the necessary information about a candidate from his/her resume and the application form. Then what’s the use of the application essay?
If you know the answer, you are already a few steps ahead of your peers. The purpose of an application essay is to assess what the candidate thinks and feels is important about his/her world, what are his/her preferences, values, and the thought process. Colleges want to gain insights into the candidates that they cannot find in the resume or recommendation letter.
If you want your application essay to impress the college application committee, you will need to be well prepared. I have assembled some of the most effective tips and tricks to ensure you get the necessary essay help while writing it.
Table of Contents
1. Understand the requirements:
Before you decide what you want to write in your application essay, go through the instructions shared by the college admission committee. It is important to comply with the guidelines of the application essay specific to the college if you want the admission committee to like your essay.
If you don’t adhere to the guidelines while drafting the essay, the admission officers may think that you are not good at following instructions and aren’t a good fit for the college. So, read the instructions carefully and prepare the outline of the essay accordingly.
2. Choose a topic that speaks about you:
As discussed at the beginning of this blog, an application essay should reflect your thought process, values, and preferences. So, you need to choose a topic for your application essay that can highlight how you think and perceive the world around you.
It is said that everyone has a story worth telling. A story that is uniquely yours can be a great topic to write about. It does not have to be larger than life or filled with drama. Sometimes, even the smallest moments lead us to great breakthroughs. If the college has provided you with a topic, think about a way how you can link personal experiences with the topic.
3. Start with an intriguing introduction:
It is true that everyone does not possess the skill and flair for essay writing, but a smarter approach can make all the difference. The trick to getting readers’ attention is to present a compelling introduction for the essay.
Since the admission officers need to go through thousands of application essays, they are less likely to the entire content of each essay. So, you need to start your essay with a vivid paragraph that will catch their attention from the beginning and push them to read the entire essay. You can put an anecdote or some interesting story that highlights the best parts of your personality.
4. Use your unique voice:
Your application essay needs to give the readers an idea about your uniqueness. So, it is important to be authentic with the content that you are about to write for your essay. You are likely to get influenced by the samples of application essays you have checked recently but refrain from using the same phrases and ideas that people have used hundreds of times previously.
Think about the ways that can make your content unique. Every good writer has his own unique style of writing. So, instead of imitating some other writers try to write the content that speaks of your authenticity. If the admission officer sees that there’s nothing new in your content, he/she may not even bother reading it till the end.
5. Do not brag about your achievements:
It is not at all necessary to mention your qualifications, achievements, and rewards in your application essay. Nobody likes a show-off. So you need to find a way to showcase your qualities, interests, or passion without bragging about them.
It is important to sound confident in the essay, but don’t go overboard with it. You can talk about your dreams and ambitions, and how a college education can help you achieve them. It is better if you let them know about these things in a subtle way in the content.
6. Stick to a clear plan:
Don’t improvise while writing. Always proceed with a clear plan if you want your application essay to impress the college admission committee. Proper planning can make your essay more organized and concise. You should always start with an outline.
Try not to include everything in your essay, even if you find them worth mentioning. You don’t just state the facts but also explain the ideas behind them to provide depth to your content. So, you need to make sure you choose the best parts of your story for the essay as you have to comply with the word limit as well.
7. Offer good examples to support your viewpoint:
You need to make your essay credible to the readers. So, you need to write things that support your viewpoint. Spend some time to figure out what angle you want to work with. This will help you make all your ideas work towards a common objective, i.e. to support your viewpoint.
Use specific details and examples to develop your ideas. It is always better to share your personal experience while supporting your viewpoint. This allows the readers to understand what motivates you and how you developed a particular belief.
8. Proofread the paper with a fresh mind:
When your college admission is at stake, you cannot take the risk of submitting an unedited essay to the admission committee. But you should not start proofreading the content right after your finish writing the essay. Take some significant amount of break, and then proofread the essay with a fresh mind.
If you proofread immediately after writing, your brain may fail to spot several areas that need more work. Since you are still looking at it from the writer’s perspective, you may not be able to proofread it properly. When to attend the essay with a fresh mind, you are more likely to identify the errors in it and can spot the areas which have a lot of room for improvement.
There’s no denying that writing application essays is tough. And since they often determine the future of student’s college admission, the pressure can be rather overwhelming. So, keep your calm, and try to incorporate these tips into your essay. There’s a high chance that your essay will get selected if you follow these tips in your writing.
Author bio: Henry Howkins is a History lecturer at a reputed institute in Australia. He has also been a part of MyAssignmenthelp.com, providing students with assignment help on request. He loves to paint in his free time, and also contributes to society as a social worker.